A trial has commenced for a foster parent in Alberta accused of causing the death of a five-year-old boy with significant disabilities. The child was discovered unresponsive in a garage on June 14, 2022, at a rural property near Leduc, Alberta. The boy had been placed in the front seat of an SUV that morning while the accused took other children to school. Testimony revealed that the child was non-verbal and had physical disabilities that prevented him from sitting up unassisted or controlling his head, neck, or trunk. He remained in the vehicle for several hours before the couple caring for him found him unresponsive and called 911. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene, and an autopsy later confirmed that he suffocated. Crown prosecutor Dallas Sopko announced a publication ban on the boy's name and any identifying information. Consequently, the name of the accused has also not been disclosed. The accused pleaded not guilty to three charges: manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death, and failure to provide the necessaries of life. Sopko informed the court that the accused and his wife had been foster parents to the boy for several years and were aware of the care he required. However, the boy was left in the car without an appropriate car seat while the foster father hurried to drop off other children and go to work. The foster mother is not facing charges in this case. The accused had expected his wife to drive the boy to school later and texted her about the child being in the car. However, she did not respond for nearly an hour and was inside the house with another child while the SUV remained parked in the garage. Sopko stated, "Inexplicably, [the five-year-old] was left unsupervised, unrestrained in the vehicle for almost eight and a half hours." The Crown does not allege that the accused intended to harm the child, but argues that serious injury or death was a foreseeable outcome of his actions. "The events crystallized the moment he drove away from the residence," Sopko added. During the trial in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, security footage was shown, depicting the foster father carrying the child to the car and placing him in the passenger seat. He returned once to adjust the child before closing the door and driving away with other children. Later footage showed the foster mother entering the driver's seat of the SUV, calling for her husband, and discovering the child unresponsive. A recording of the 911 call was played in court, where the man informed the operator that the boy was not breathing and described his medical condition as functioning "like a three-month-old." Prosecutors plan to present evidence suggesting that the foster father "intentionally misled" the child's pediatrician regarding the circumstances of the boy's death. The trial is expected to continue until December 12.